Alan Kernaghan said Brentford’s players had proved they can deal with the pressure of playing in the npower League One Play-Off Final.
The Bees will take on Yeovil Town at Wembley on Sunday, May 19, in a winner-takes-all promotion clash.
The winners of the Play-Off Final will be promoted to the npower Championship and Brentford are looking to get back to the second tier for the first time since 1993.
Assistant Manager Alan, speaking to Bees Player, said Brentford’s players had shown in their FA Cup with Budweiser matches against Chelsea and the League One game against Doncaster Rovers, where Brentford would have been promoted if they had won, they could deal with high-profile fixtures.
He said Brentford would not underestimate Yeovil, who beat The Bees home and away this season, and were working all week on how to win the match.
“There is a fine line between playing the game down and embracing it,” said Alan.
“We believe we have a good team but will be cautious not to underestimate the opposition.
“We will put a huge amount of time in to that.
“We have to let our players deal with it.
“This will be the third really big game – fourth if you include Doncaster – where there has been a lot of pressure on them.
“We know they can deal with that.
“We will let them do what they need to do and if we have concentrated on what we need to do tactically, we hope it will be fine.
“We have already targeted the areas we believe we can cause them problems and we have been able to focus on that.”
Brentford reached the Play-Off Final with a penalty shoot-out win over Swindon Town last Monday, May 6.
This left a 13 day gap between games and Alan said that had concerned the coaching staff.
He said the players went away for a few days and that had helped bridge the gap before they started the build-up to the match.
“We were concerned about the length between the games,” said Alan.
“We wondered whether we wanted to keep the rhythm and play on Saturday.
“But we have played enough games, the players didn’t need another.
“We had a couple of days away, a day at the races, the boys really enjoyed it.
“We now have a full week, a normal week, which we haven’t had in a long time.
“It gives us time to work on a number of things.
“We usually train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and we have just moved it on a day.”
Alan said planning for Yeovil started immediately after the Play-Off Semi-Final win.
The Bees rode the rollercoaster against Swindon to progress – scoring a stoppage time equaliser in the first game before going 2-0 and 3-1 up in the second leg being pegged back to 3-3 with a 94th minute equaliser and then winning the penalty shoot-out by scoring all five.
“It didn’t take long to come down,” said Alan.
“We immediately started planning and watching Yeovil as much as we could.
“It was huge for the players both physically and mentally, particularly when you factor in extra time, to recover from.
“We had a couple days away; they enjoyed the change of scenery.
“The players have recovered totally.”
Alan praised the Club’s medical and conditioning staff for the Brentford player’s fitness.
He said the fact Brentford were fresher enabled them to take better penalties and win the shoot-out against Swindon.
“Our fitness was, without doubt, the reason we were able to perform well in the penalties,” he explained.
“We were still fresh.
“We were fresher than they were.
“That is what we do differently compared to other clubs.
“We focus on being right physically and medically, which leads in to the mental side.
“Hats off to everybody to concerned.
“Our penalties were superb and that comes down mental strength and good technique.”
Alan played at Wembley for Middlesbrough in the Zenith Data Systems Cup – the Full Members’ Cup – in 1990 and he said he enjoyed the experience.
But he added Wembley was a bad place to lose and Brentford would do all they could to ensure they weren’t on the wrong end of the score line on Sunday.
“I played at Wembley for Middlesbrough in the old Zenith Data Systems Cup against Chelsea,” he said.
“It was the old Wembley and we lost 1-0 unfortunately.
“I enjoyed the day and played OK.
“We were beaten by a good goal.
“I have good memories but it is not a place to lose.
“We know what is at stake.
“We have been so close and it would be great to get over the line.
“I think everybody deserves it.”
Bees Player subscribers can see a full video interview with Alan Kernaghan here.